Free! A Haru Love Story
by Chapgirl
Summary: The swim club is thrown into turmoil when their childhood friend Kei returns to town. They meet each other a the swim club only to find out that Kei is actually a girl!
1. Chapter 1

It was a hot spring day, almost summertime, as the Iwatobi swim club headed for practice to the roof. As always, Haru jumped into the water as soon as he had dropped his clothes, which left the others smiling. The cold, smooth water touched his skin, gently brushing past him. After a few seconds he opened his eyes, and what he saw gave him such a shock that he opened his mouth, and then coming to the surface, gasping.

"Haru, what?!" Makoto exclaimed. Haru just pointed into the water. There, at the bottom of the pool was sitting a young girl, about their age, waving at them and then slowly ascending.

"G-g-ghost!" Makoto shouted, trying to hide behind the shorter and smaller Haru.

"No, Mako-chan, I don't think so^^'" Nagisa said.

The pool girl grabbed a towel, wrapped it around her body and then jump-hugged Haru, grinning broadely.

"Haru, guys, it's so good to see you again! Wow, you really didn't change much!" Haru just looked at her puzzled.

"Ex-excuse me, but do we know you?" Rei asked slowly. The girl let go of Haru, turned to him, then shaked her head, leaving water to splash from her short reddish-brown hair.

"I don't think the two of us do. Hi, I'm Amakura Kei." She extended her hand for him to shake it, and so he did.

"Ryuugazaki Rei." He said.

"Ke-Kei-chan?!" Nagisa exclaimed and Kei just smiled.

"E-eeeh?!" Makoto couldn't believe his eyes.

"Kei is a boy." Haru commented calmly.

"Eh? Now that's really rude, Haru!"

"B-but, Kei-chan, you're a girl, really?"

"Well, do I look like boy to you?" She asked, opening her towel for them to look at her definitely female bikini-clad body. They were left without a word, so she closed her towel.

"Nee, Makoto, don't tell me you guys really believed I was a boy." She asked.

"Well, you always used to refer to yourself as boku."

"That's because my father taught me that... And boku is also used by girls." She started pouting.

"And Kei is a boy's name." Nagisa added.

"And Nagisa's a girly name." She returned.

"Kei always acted like a boy." Haru said.

"What? I refused to bathe with you, I cried a lot and what about that time at the airport, what did you guys think about me kissing Haru?" She pointed at the slightly dazzled star of the swim club.

"K-kiss?" Gou exclaimed.

"W-well, we just thought you were, you know..." Makoto started.

"Gay?! Really? Ugh."

"Well, well, why don't you guys tell us all about this whilst catching up over a cool drink somewhere?" Ama-chan-sensei suggested.

They found themselves cramped around a table at a small cafe, cold drnks in hand, chatting happily.

"Eh? So you guys met at the swim club where Kei's father was giving diving lessons for a few months?" REi asked.

"Yup, that's right, Rei-chan." Nagisa said.

"Really, but that means my brother was there as well?" Gou figured.

"Yes, I already sent him a message, asking him to come here." Makoto said.

"Rin is coming." Kei asked with shiny eyes "How nice. Memories.

Just about that moment Rin turned a corner and coming in sight for them, running.

"Haru, everyone!" He waved at them. He seemed to notice Kei and nodded at her, then turned to Makoto.

"So, where's Kei?" He asked, bewildered.

"There. Sitting right in front of your eyes." Makoto pointed at Kei who slapped his hand, grinning.

"It's rude to point at people." Makoto she said with a smile. "Hi, Rin!"

"Kei is a girl?" Rin asked, blushing furiously.

"Well, yeah, last time I checked." She winked at him.

Rin sat down with them catching up about their encounter.

"So, at least you all were as shocked as I was..." Rin said. "Though I think Haru might have taken the most damage..."

Right to that point Haru had been staring off into the distance without saying a single word. Kei looked at him and then just said: "No, I think he's just happily reminiscing that his first kiss wasn't stolen by a boy..."

"Oh, right that happened..." Rin said.

"But, Kei-san, youreally kissed Haru-senpai?" Gou asked, stunned.

"Ah, well, back then I had a serious crush on Haru and i thought, well, I would never see him again, so I figured I could at least take a little memento with me." She blushed a little.

"So you confessed at the airport just before leaving? How romantic!" Ama-sensei exclaimed.

"Um, no I didn't exactly confess... Haru had never any love interest other than the water..."

"Well, why don't we leave all that love talk behind and ask about why you're here and why you ended up in our pool?" Makoto brought the three girls back to reason, seeing that the guys were feeling quite uncomfortable about that topic.

So Kei explained that her father had recently opened up a diving school in Hawaii and with him so close she wanted to meet her old friends again, moving into a little apartment , living by herself.

"I'll be joining you in school tomorrow and figured that you would definitely be in the swim club so I took a little dive, waiting for you all."

"So, Kei-senpai, you'll be joining us at the swim club?" rei asked.

"Not really, no." She said " I don't like swimming that much..."

"Huh, but you were in the-"

"I love the water, though." She smiled "I live to dive."Memories of these words spoken from a much smaller Kei back in the old days left the rest smiling, too.


	2. Chapter 2

They sat a while in the Café, reminiscing about the past, and bit by bit everyone left for their homes. In the end Kei and Rin were the only ones left.

"Really, I still can't believe you're a girl." Rin said.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to face the truth, huh?" She smiled, a relaxed Expression on her face "I can't believe you guys all mistook me for a Boy. Though, thinking about it, my father always kinda tried to turn me into a boy." She left out a slight giggle and Rin watched her, mesmerized. She realised his gaze and asked:

"What?"

"Ah, no, it's just..." Rin averted his eyes "I was wondering whether you can still hold your breath the longest of all of us..."

"Oh, that? No problem!" She grinned. "Why don't you come to the next practice and we'll all try out."

"You'll be joining the swim Club?" He looked at her.

"Ah, well, not sure, but I really want to spend time with you guys, so I figured joining the Club would be the best way to do it..." She sighed.

"Even though you always disliked Swimming." Rin grinned.

"Not really, I just can't understand why you'd want to spend time on the Surface when your can relax under water." She winked at him. "But seriously, do come visit, ok? I wanted to meet you just as much as the others."

He raised his eyebrows. "Not just Haru?" He asked. In answer to that Kei blushed and said:

"That was a long time ago..."

"True." Rin said "Well, of course I'll come visit. We have Joint practice every other day any way."

"That's great." Kei smiled broadely and Rin turned bright red.

"W-well" he stammered "I really should go now, or my roommate will be worried." he said.

"Sure. I'll see you!" Kei waved as Rin took off, then slumped back into her chair. The guys really hadn't changed; and she was ecstatic about that.

The next day, Kei made her way to the classroom.

"3-B, 3-B..." she murmured, looking at the signs in front of her.

"Ah, Kei-senpai!"

Kei looked up and saw Gou waving at her.

"Gou-chan!" she said and went over to her "I'm lucky you're here! Could you guide me to class 3-B?" She asked. Gou's eyes opened wide.

"3-B?" Gou looked astonished.

"Yup, see." She showed Gou her Student Card. "Why, what's wrong."

"Haruka-senpai and Makoto-senpai are also in 3-B..." Gou answered.

"Really? How cool is that!" Kei grinned and caught Gou staring at her. "What? Is something wrong with ma face?"

"No... I was just thinking that when you're smiling your face Looks just like the sun... Ah! Sorry, that sounded embarassing!"

"No, no, it's ok." Still, Kei was blushing, but then smiled "Thank you."

They set off to the classroom and Gou asked:

"So, Senpai, will you be joining the Club?"

"Well, actually, I'd very much love to. But I'm not much of a swimmer... the only Thing I'm good at is diving..."

"That's ok, really." Gou said "You see, Rei-kun couldn't even swim when he entered."

"Really? How did that happen?"

And so Gou recounted the Story how Rei had joined the Swim Club. At the end, Kei laughed.

"Oh, that'S so like Nagisa, to do that! But I'm happy they found another member, really, I don't think Haru can live without Swimming!"

"That might be right." Gou smiled "Here we are." She pointed at the sign above them saying "3-B".

"Thank you, Gou-chan! I'll see you later?" Kei looked at her new friend.

"I sure hope so!" Gou exclaimed and then they parted ways.

Kei entered the classroom and smiled as Haru and Makoto stared at her in amazement. She introduced herself and took her seat in the back of the classroom.

As soon as the bell rang, a crowd of students was flocked around her.

"Hey, hey, Amakawa-san, is it true that you grew up all around the world? How old are you? Do you have a boyfriend? Where's you're Family? Your Japanese is really good!" Questions were racing around her head and she smiled, tying to sort out the flurry of words. Rumor truly travelled fast, huh?

"Until middle School I was just living in different parts of Japan, but later my dad got assignments all around the world, yes." She answered. "Just like the rest of you, I'm eighteen, no I'm currently not Dating anyone, my Dad's staying in Hawaii." She took a deep breath "And I'm happy that you all welcome me so nicely, but if you'll excuse me, I'd really like to spend time with my friends."

The other looked at her, befuddled, as she rose and strode over to Haru and Makoto.

"Hi guys." She said and smiled, dropping into an empty chair beside them.

"Wow, that's..." Makoto commented on the others' reaction. Kei just smiled.

"They're just curious." She said "I'm used to it by now."

"You mean that happened to you every time?" Makoto stared at her.

"Umm... Yeah, but that's normal, isn't it?" She asked.

"Well..." Makoto really couldn't reply to that.

"Will you join?" Haru asked.

"The Club? Yeah, I really want to spend as much time with you guys as possible." She smiled.

"You're not embarassed to say that?" Haru looked at her.

"Not, really, no, you guys were the closest friends I had till now. Every other place I went most Girls were a bit unfriendly... and the guys were, I don't know... weird. It's like you're the only normal People I've ever met..." Kei sighed.

"Is that so?" Makoto asked, thinking that all the other Girls probably had just been jealous, and the other guys might have been intimidated by her looks. For Kei had indeed turned from a boyish Girl into an extremely pretty teenage Girl. Especially the way she smiled... it seemed as if the sun was rising every time her mouth did.


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as the bell rang Kei an Haru sprang from their chairs. Kei grinned as she said:

"Race you to the pool?"

Haru gave the slightest of smiles and off they sprinted. Avoiding other students, turning corners, over the schoolyard, up the stairs towards the rooftop pool. It was a nose to nose race until right before the changing rooms. When Kei stopped to get changed Haru just kept on running, throwing his clothes away whilst running, revealing his swimsuit underneath. He sprinted through the door and with a loud splash landed in the water. Kei looked after him, befuddled, and suddenly burst out laughing.

As the others arrived shortly afterwards she was still shaking with laughter.

"Kei, what's up?" Makoto asked, bewildered.

"I was wrong, Haru did change!" She pressed through her laughter.

"Huh?" Natsuki looked at her.

" He's now wearing his swimsuit underneath. He didn't use to be such a swimming otaku, did he?"

Natsuki started laughing as well. "You're right, I guess seeing that for the first time would leave you bewildered..."

After everyone finished changing (Kei now in a proper swimsuit) they joined Haru in the water. Kei immediately descended to the bottom, opening her eyes wide. They were already used to the water and only stang ever so much. Water changed the perspective, the colour of things. Kei loved the flurry of sunlight that rippled through the water, the air bubbles the guys creating whilst training. Rei was swimming his butterfly overhead and Kei frowned as she noticed something off in his swimming style. She came to the surface and said:

"Rei, could you come over for a second?"

So he did and she explained to him what she had seen. He looked at her, asontished.

"Well, I really did hit a wall with my times, but how could you see?" He asked.

"I don't know, I guess spending all this time with my Dad in all these high-class swimming clubs trained my eyes..." She shrugged.

"Hm, I'll try it, then." And so Rei got back in his track and swam slightly different. Almost immediately Kei could see a change in the way the water moves around him.

"Yes, that's it! Keep going!" she cheered.

"Wow, Rei-kun, you just hit your personal best!" Gou exclaimed. The others were now interested in what was happening and Kei explained what she'd seen.

"Such a tiny detail..." Mamoru said

"None of us would have noticed." Natsuki added.

"Oh, no, really now..." Kei turned a tad pink.

"Kei, look at me." Haru said. Kei turned her head, now blushing more furiously, as Haru swam off.

"Huh? Ah, um, yes, sure." And she dove down.

In that order an hour went by, and they were taking a break when Rin arrived.

"What? I come here just for you and see you all slacking off?" He said.

"Oh, sure, just for us." Makoto murmured and Rin blushed as he turned to Haru.

"So, what's up with you guys?"

"We're taking a small break." Haru answered.

"It's true, Rin, they just trained quite hard for one whole hour." Kei backed them up.

"Well, if Kei says so..."

After a few minutes they returned to training. Kei was returning to the bottom of the pool. No matter what she did, nothing compared to this feeling under water. She closed her eyes and just felt the gentle streams around her body. It felt as she could almost breathe in. She was so calm and satisfied that she didn't notice the others' scream on the surface. Only then did she open her eyes when someone had grabbed her around her waist, causing her to releaese the air from her lungs. She came up, gagging and struggling against the force against her waist, which, she now realised, were Harus arms.

"Haru!" She coughed "What in he world are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" He returned in a calm voice.

"Kei-chan, are you okay?" Nagisa exclaimed.

"Um, I would be, if Haru hadn't pulled this stunt." She was shaking water out of her ear.

"We thought you were drowning, Kei!" Rin explained.

"Drowning? I was just relaxing..." She sighed. "I don't drown."

"Still, you didn't respond to any of our calls, so we just figured..." Makoto said.

"Aaah, don't think, okay? Next time I'm really drowning I'll call for your help, okay? ThougH I doubt that will ever happen."

"How can you be so sure of that, senpai?" Rei asked.

"Dunno, the water's almost like lover to me. Your lover wouldn't kill you now, would he?" She said that so matter-of-factly that everyone just stared at each other.

"If lovers are jealous though, they'll kill." Gou said.

"Still, mizu has noone to be jealous of, has he?"

"Would you stop this creepy talk?!" Rin was both blushing and looking disgusted.

"Eh? Rin, don't tell me you can't stand love talk." Kei liked teasing him.

"O-of course not!" But he turned an even deeper shape of red "You just sound way too much like Haru with your water talk."

"Do I? I wander if my emotions towards water made me fall in love with him?" These last words she spoke in english, whispering right into Rins ears who now seemed to be emitting steam. Kei was holding her belly laughing, in answer to that.

"Hahahahahaha, Rin, sorry, but you're still the easiest to tease of all of them!" But in the back of her heart she wondered just how true her own words might have been.


	4. Chapter 4

As the days and weeks passed, Kei had just kind of naturally turned into Iwatobis Swim Coach. She was trying her hardest developing a proper training regimen. After a while she came to a conclusion.

"I think we should go on a training camp." She said during one of their frequent non-pool meetings. "Spending all day in the water and training to your hearts content seems the right thing to do, don't you think?"

At the words "spending all day in the water" Harus eyes started shining

"Really? But where are we supposed to go?" Rei asked.

"Well, I actually alreeady discussed that with Gou-chan and we decided to visit one of my father's acquaintances at his diving school in Okinawa. Does that seem alright to you?" She looked at each of their faces.

"Sure, if CoachKei thinks it's the best, then that's what we'll do." Nagisa said, grinning, since he knew what would be coming his way.

"Nagisa-a! I told you already, stop calling me coach..." But somehow she knew it was useless to say that.

"I think diving would be a nice alternative as well." Makoto said.

"Makoto..." Haru started.

"It's okay, Haru, as long as I'm with you guys I'll be alright." Makoto smiled reassuringly.

"Makoto, I'm sorry, I totally forgot..." Kei had a very worried look on her face.

"Well, as I already said, it's okay as long as I'm with you." And that wasn't a lie, Makoto felt safer now than ever.

"Okay... then that's settled!" Kei's expression turned from worried into happy. "It's a pity though, that Rin can't come with us, don't you think?" Fromeveryones expressions she could tell they agreed to that.

"Um, I think if I talk to my brother and his Club Leader, he may be able to take a short leave..." Gou interjected.

"Really, Gou-chan?! That would be great!" Kei took her friends' hands in excitement.

"You know, Kei-senpai, I've been meaning to ask you fro a while now, but how exactly do feel about onii-san?" Gou asked. She was too curious to hold it in any longer.

"Eh? I like him, of course." Kei said naturally.

"Wh-whaaat? You like him?!" Gou blushed bright red.

"Me, me, what about me, Gou-coach." Nagisa raised his hand.

"Well, except for the coach thing I like Nagisa a lot as well." Kei answered. "And i like Makoto and Rei..."

"And Haru chan." Nagisa added. Kei stared at him, eyes widening and after a few moments added:

"Yes, Haru as well."

So the next monday morning everything was settled and they waited in front of the small bus the school had rented for them. Ama-sensei would be driving. Only Gou and Rin hadn't arrived yet. But they soon heard some bickering along the way, when Gou and Rin came in sight.

"I can't believe we're going to be late because you couldn't decide what to pack!" Gou complained.

"That's not like it at all!" Rin exclaimed.

"Really? Because I saw you thinking about packing your suit! Your suit! I mean, this is a swim club training camp, not a Goukon!" Gou pointed at Rin.

"I didn't-!" But Rin stopped short when he saw the others staring at him. "H-hi, guys."

"Hey... Rin." Makoto said. Everyone greeted each other and finally they got on the bus.

"I want to go to the back, the back!" Nagisa exclaimed and practically jumped on one of the back seats.

"Nagisa-kun, you're always so noisy." Rei complained, but smiled.

"That seat empty?" Rei pointed to the seat beside Kei. His cheeks were faintly red.

"Sure." She smiled. "Go ahead."

But before he could sit down, Gou had dragged him beside her, since she was desperately trying to make up for the time she'd missed with her brother.

As Makoto was the most reliable of them all, he was ordered by Ama-sensei to be the tour guide. So Haru was left to sit beside Kei.

"Hey." Kei smiled at him shyly. He nodded.

"You're gonna love this place, I promise! It's beautiful, the sea shines azure blue, the fish are colour- and plentiful and they have the best seafood around."

"Mackerel?" Haru asked.

"Yep, great Mackerel. Actually, there's this one off-the-hook fish-barbeque. They have the best Mackerel I know."

Haru's eyes started shining.

"So who's this friend of your father's, Kei-chan?" Nagisa asked from the back.

"Uhm, he's a guy we got to know while my Dad was still going around training. He coached his son, Jun-chan, for a while. Actually, I think the little guy took a bit of a fancy in me." She told them.

"Wow, you sure are popular, senpai." Rei commented.

"What? No way, most guys don't even talk to me!" She laughed "But Jun-chan always hung around when he didn't have to train and he also always made me wear that..." Kei's voice trailed off with a sigh.

"Wear what?" Gou asked.

"Eh? No, I can't tell you, it's too embarassing..." She blushed.

"What? Now you're making me even more curious!" Gou said, while the guys' minds were going crazy over whatever embarassing item had to be worn.


	5. Chapter 5

Afterwards the topic of the embarassing clothing was dropped and they simply enjoyed their bus drive into the blue. They were happily chatting over this and that, mainly swimming and water of course.

Later that day, after taking a ferry and breathing in the sea breeze, they finally arrived at their destination.

Kei made her way out of the bus and twirled around, enjoying the familiar smells she hadn't smelled for a while.

"And now?" Makoto asked.

"We'll meet Jun-chan and his dad." Kei said "Follow me." She smiled broadely. A few seconds later a tall guy came running out the house.

"Onee-chan!" He shouted, then lifted Kei high up into the air "Long time no see."

Rin was already making his way towards the two of them, and even Haru disliked the sight of them, when the boy finally let go of Kei.

"Ju-Jun-chan?!" Kei exclaimed. The boy nodded with a grin. "Wow! You grew so much!"

"It's me, I tell ya!" He said.

"Uhm, senpai..." Rei looked as if he'd just witnessed something extremely embarassing.

"Oh, sure, Jun-chan, these are the guys from my swimming club, Rei, Natsuki, Makoto, Haru, Gou and Rin, and this is Ama-sensei. Everyone, this is Jun-chan."

"Oh, I hoped, you'd leave the chan, really... Hi, everyone, it's nice to meet you!" He bowed respectfully. After exchanging formalities they went in.

"N-nee, Kei, what did you say how old Jun was exactly?" Rin asked, forcing a smile.

"Um, he's three years younger, so he should be 15 right now..." Kei answered.

"He's just too big for his age..." Makoto commented.

"Hm, that might come since his Mom's an American, you know?"

Half a foreigner! They were all quite shocked.

Jun then led them into the house, taking Kei's stuff along, but leaving the others behind. With his free hand he hugged Kei around her waist, then glanced back, shooting the others a suspicious look, while Kei was reminiscing about the reencounter. Since she had lived outside Japan for quite a while, she did not notice Jun's rather offensive behaviour.

"So these are your rooms." Jun said, pointing a room to each couple that would be staying together. When he came to the girls' room he just walked by briskly, taking Kei's trunk along.

"Um, Jun-chan, you forgot to leave my stuff..." Kei interjected.

"No way, obviously you're staying in my room." Jun said.

"Excuse me?!" Kei stopped short. "No matter how close we were, but staying in a room with a boy is just..." Kei blushed.

"What? We used to sleep together all the time!" Jun complained.

"Yeah, but you were just twelve back then... Now... You've grown so much..."

Jun "tch"ed. Rin, who had come to ask Kei about the training schedule, had listened to their conversation and was now glaring at Jun.

"You... Little brat! Gimme that!" He took Kei's bag forcefully and carried it into the girls' room, leaving behind an irritated Jun.

"ah, thank you, Rin." Kei said. She was a bit embarrassed.

" Say, did you really sleep together with that guy?"

Now Kei was really blushing. "Well, that was three years ago, he was still a little kid back then!"

"A kid, huh?" Rin said, but was thinking his part.

"Yup." Kei sighed "He was always a bit clingy, but this... Is a little over the top. though I don't want to offend him." She sat down on one of the beds. "Oh, well, I guess tomorrow we'll go to the bea-" her sentence was cut short by Makoto's voice.

"No! Haru, wait, come back!" He shouted.

Rin and Kei got out of the room just to see Makoto chasing after Haru who had, quite obviously, headed for the sea.

"Haru-sempai!"

"Haru-chan!"

But Haru was already out of the house when the rest of the group stared running, too. Out of instinct, Kei had snatched her diving glasses and run along.

Since the beach was only a few hundred feet away from the house, they arrived there in no time. And, needless to say, Haru had flung himself into the waves immediately. To everybody's surprise though, Kei followed right after him.

The familiar sensation of waves rushing around her body embraced Kei without hesitation. The sea had always been her most trusted friend. Indeed she had always felt more like a mermaid than a human. Not that she'd tell anybody. Ever again. Once had proven to be far enough for a disastrous decision.

since she had used her underwater goggles she could see the wildlife around her quite clearly. Since they were so close to the beach, of course there weren't so many fish, but just seeing a few of them with their bodies glittering in the afternoon sun were already enough for Kei. She felt extremely calm.

Soon she looked around and realised that all of the clubs members had followed Haru's example and jumped into the sea.

They were taking big, powerful strikes to leap against the slashing waves. Kei had always found it fascinating how the sea was so playful on top when it was so calm underwater.


	6. Chapter 6

After a while Kei decided to end that fun swimming session and gathered everyone (including the impatient Haru) on the beach. There, Jun was standing, wearing an expression that constantly changed between amused, annnoyed and flabbergasted.

"Say, Kei-neechan" he whispered into her ear "Your classmates really are weird, aren't they?"

At such an innocent comment Kei just chuckled. It seemed as if Jun hadn't changed so much after all. She patted his head gently on which he blushed lightly.

"Don't worry, Jun-chan. They just love being in the water, 's all." She smiled at him, thinking about the club members.

"Yo, Kei, you coming or what?!" Rin looked quite annoyed, the others were also all waiting for her to join them.

"Ah, of course!" She turned towards them, Jun following her like a lost puppy. Rin glared at Jun.

"What's that rude junior doing here." He asked, inclining his head towards Jun.

"Rin! Don't bee rude! After alll we're staying at Jun-cha's house!" Kei scolded him. He looked dissatisfied, but didn't say anything further.

"So? What did you want us to do?" Haru asked, always glancing back and forth between Kei and the water.

The others were also looking at her. Even Ama-sensei and Gou-chan looke curious.

"Well, first of al, let's wrap up this unplanned swimming session." She said "And then let's start unpacking and making dinner. After all I promised Ojii-san that we would cook for letting us stay here."

"Um... you did?" Makoto asked.

"Sure, did I forget to tell you?" From the looks on their faces she could tell she had. "Ah, haha, I had the felling I forgot something..." She was just a bit flustered by that.

"Well, if that's the case, we cannot disappoint ou host, can we?" Rei, the voice of reason came to speak.

"Looks like it." Nagisa added.

Haru pouted a bit, probably since he did't want to part with the sea.

"Well, that's okay..." Rin said "but, it's not like I can cook... what about you guys?"

He looked into puzzled faces.

"Well, if it's me, my mother always does the cooking in our house..." Makoto said.

"Yup, here as well." Nagisa raised his hand.

"I definitely cannot cook. It's not beautiful, it's very messy." Rei added.

"I can cook." Haru commented.

"Haru, grilling mackerel does not count as cooking skill." Makoto shook his head. "Really..."

"Well, I can do the basics, of course." Gou said "But it's nothing out-of-the-ordinary..."

"I always cook for myself, I don't mind." Ama-sensei said.

"Oh, well, but it's not like us girls can do everything, right?" Kei sighed. "Well, at first, let's get a showwer, unpack and meet in an hour to go shopping, alright?"

Everyone agreed and off they were. Ama-sensei was the first to take a quick shower and Gou and Kei were unpacking. There was a knocking on the door.

"Come in." Kei said.

Jun popped his head in.

"Kei-neechan, you tell me when you need anything, alright?" He asked with a slightly embarassed expression on his face. "And... also, I'm sorry about before, I didn't mean to offend you." He put on a pair of extremely cute puppy dog eyes. Seeing that, Kei just had to forgive him. She gave him a hearty hug, queezing her eyes shut.

"Oh, Jun-chan, don't worry! It's all forgotten! I'm sure you had no ill intentions whatsoever." As she opened her eyes she found herself staring at Haru, who was watching the scene with bewilderement. He looked their way for a couple seconds, then turned around and left without saying anything. Kei immediately let go of the furiously blushing and grinning Jun and followed the onlooker.

"Haru! Wait!" She said as soon as they had stepped outside the house. Haru turned around to look at her inquiringy.

"It's not... what you just saw... that's not like that at all." She stumbled over her own words, unsure what to say. When he still made no comment an unease built up in her chest. Just when Kei was about to open her mouth, Haru said:

"What's not what?" He asked. "What are you talking about?" His tone was different from before, a slight annoyance ringing along his words.

"I... uhm... me and Jun-chan... we're not... lovers or anything." With those last words her voice trailed off.

"Ok." Haru said. He was just about to turn around and go back into the house again.

"Wait! Uhm, do you mind... not telling the others?" Kei felt her cheeks redden.

"Sure."

"Is... is that... all?" Unsure of what to make of his behaviour, Kei stammered slightly. Her chest tightened further.

"What else should there be?" Haru asked "What you do with that boy shouldn't be of any concern to me, should it?" And with that he turned around and left this time for sure, leafing behind a confused Kei.

"No... it shouldn't..." She whispered, to noone in particular, while she felt her eyes going wet. She swallowed and shook her head. She wouldn't cry over this stupid idiot ever again! That's what she had sworn to herself a long time ago.


	7. Chapter 7

After that noone made a comment about the incident, so Kei figured, Haru had been true to his word and not told anyone.

They all went shopping together and had the most hilarious time preparing dinner with a handful of clueless guys, involving a slaughtered carrot, re-cooking the sauce and a couple of band-aids and cooling patches. Afterwards, everyone was satisfied with their work, though. Just when they were ready to serve, they heard clacking and footsteps in the hallway.

"Jun, I'm home!" A deep male voice made it's way into the dining room. Jun, as well as Kei jumped up. Kei broke into the broadest of smiles.

"Ojii-san!" She exclaimed and flung herself into the arms of the middle-aged man that had just entered the room. He was muscular, and tanned, wore a flufffy beard and was watching his guests through warm, brown eyes.

"Kei, you've grown." He said, smiling at her. Kei smiled back, feeling comfortable immediately.

"Thanks! You haven't changed at all, though!" She answered.

"So, will you introduce me?" He asked, pointing at the rest.

"Sure! Everyone this is Sugiyoshi Akiba, Jun-chan's father."

After introductions were made everyone dug in. After the long day the warm dinner felt reallly good.

"But Kei, I still think it's a pity that you won't get into modeling." Akiba said later. At that, Kei's cheeks exploded in all shades of red, for she was sure about what was to come now. Desperatley she tried to get onto a different topic.

"Oh, well... but, say, what is Obaa-san doing?"

Akiba saw through her evasion tactics sure enough.

"Oh, no getting off-topic!" He scolded her. "You know" he said to the others "this kid has always been very shy about it, but she once did an amazing job as a model."

Everybody's eyes started shining. Kei as a model. They wondered what kind of brand she had represented.

"Ojii-san..." Kei's voice trailed off, as her head sunk in embarassement.

"M-Model." From all of them, Rin looked the most curious by far, and so Akiba said:

"Yup, she was in a campaign for my diving school, you know. Well, basically Jun talked her into it, but still."

"We wanna see it!" Nagisa exclaimed.

"Nagisa, no, you don't! It's so embarassing!" She pulled at his shirt. But she didn't have a chance.

"I'm sure you were beautiful, Sempai." Rei reasssured.

"Beautiful?!" Jun suddenly exclaimed "SHe was way beyond beautiful! She was like a creature from a different dimension!" His eyes starde shining as he gave his speech. "The pictures couldn't even capture her beauy at this moment."

Kei wanted to find a hole in the ground to swallow her whole.

"JJun-chan..."

So, at long last, the pictures of that time were brought out. They all were staring big-eyed at the album that was put in front of them. There were a few pictures of a fifteen-year-old Kei under water. But that really was not the point there. She was wearing a wig, coloured contacts, and, most impotrantly, a fin.

"A mermaid..." Makoto said.

"B-beautiful..." Rei covered his mouth.

Rin blushed, but was left speechless.

The girls were all fussy.

"Eh, Kei-chan, you reaaaally look good in that!" Nagisa exclaimed.

"No, I..." But Kei was at a loss of words. She really didn't want anybody to know this. "Ugh, go ahead and laugh."

But it was too mesmerizing, the guys couldn't possibly laugh.

Haru was staring intently at the pictures, so intently in fact, that Kei couldn't stand it anymore.

"Now, all of you, scatter along! Go to bed, or I will torture you to death tomorrow morning!" Her voice was demanding indeed.

"Ah, we got Coach Kei mad!" Nagisa said, but left the room immediately as a response. The rest followed along, which left only Haru staring at the pictures and Akiba as well as Jun smiling happily.

"H-Haru, you too! Don't look at that..." Kei tried to pull Haru away from the album but he was clinging to it with all he had.

"Cute." His voice almost couldn't be heard, but Kei had still recognised the word. "Very cute." Kei's head exploded and she felt steam coming from her ears.

"Th-th-thank you..." She stammered.

"Alright, alright!" Jun squeezed in between Haru and Kei. "You really should go to bed as well, neechan." He said, and pushed Kei out of the room.

"No, Jun-chan, I still have to clean up!" She interfered.

"Geez, I really would liike you to stop calling me chan already." He sighed "I'll clean up, or better yet, let your clueless guys do the cleaning for you. They were useless in the cooking process anyway."

An so Kei had no choice but to leave for her bed, though, in the corner of her eye, she could make out Akiba gving something to Haru, and chatting happily with him. She wondered what they might be talking about.

The next couple days they were training hard under the observing eyes of Kei and Jun, who had no school either. He was clinging to Kei so much, Rin seemed to be irritated all the time. The boys stopped cooking all along and were put on cleaning duty, since that was the most useful position for them. To her horror, Kei had to find out, that Akiba was still using her picture for advertising his diving school.

One morning they woke up and found a raging storm shaking the house. At breakfast, Kei and Haru let out a long sigh simultaneously.

"What's up, Kei, Haru?" Rin asked. He had tried to sit beside Kei, but one side was taken by Gou, and on the other one, Jun had squeezed in.

"Look at the weather!" Kei answered.

"No swimming today." Haru said.


	8. Chapter 8

"Yeah, that figures." Makoto thought that in a way, the two of them seemed quite similar.

"Heads up!" Jun said "There's a lot of fun things to do here, you know. Kei raised her eyebrows inquiringly.

"Well, there's a really nice shopping mall around, and also, we coud go for some Karaoke later." He suggested.

"Karaoke?" Gou's eyes started shining.

"Yup."

Even Kei started smiling again.

"Well, that's sounds like a plan, doesn't it?" She was looking around, just to find the guys making some weird faces.

"I can't sing! It's aa no-no for me!" Rei said.

"Oh, Rei, don't be a party pooper!" Nagisa grinned.

"I don't know... I've never really done Karaoke." Makoto was hestiant.

"Karaoke...?" Rin looked as if someone had beat him. Bu he didn't want to go against Kei either. "Well, if that's what you want to do..."

Everyone was looking at Haru now.

"I don't care." He said "It's not swimming, so I don't care."

So they left for the shopping mall after breakfast. The girls were having a lot of fun, trying on clothes, while the guys were busy hanging about the sports shop.

They had arranged to meet up for lunch at a little family resaturant that served local delicacies. They all tried something different, when Haru, just as expected, chose the grilled mackerel.

"Oh, right, that reminds me, I promised to show you the seafood grill, right?" Kei asekd and Haru nodded.

"You... promised such a thing?" Gou asked. To her, just as about to everyone else, Rin's behaviour towards Kei was quite obvious, and of course she tried her best to support her brother's interests.

"Yup." Kei answered nonchalantly, "Since Haru realy loves Mackerel... but you know, whe should really all go together, 'cause they have all sorts of great seafood, don't they Jun-chan?" She looked at him.

"Um, yeah, they do..." Jun answered, who was just as cautios, seeing that Kei and Haru seemed rather close.

"Then we definitely should go." Makoto said, trying to relieve the tension in the air. He was still trying to figure out the situation around his best friend and their chidhood friend.

In that manner they finished lunch, Rin and Jun fighting for Kei's attention, the others trying to make it all peaceful and Haru drifting off in his own world. Afterwards they went on to the Karaoke centre that Jun had talked about. It was rather crowded, but considering the horrible weather outside, that was to be expected. Still, they could find a booth for all of them, ordered drinks and settled down.

"So, who should start?" Kei asked.

"You're asking that, Senpai, but since you're the one who wanted to go..." Rei said.

"Me? But that would be kinda embarassing..." She answered.

"Well, shoud we sing together?" Gou asked.

"Um... alright, that's okay I guess..." Still Kei looked a bit embarassed.

"Then what should we sing?" Gou asked.

"Ano... Actually I only know a few Japanese songs..." Kei blushed.

"And which one?" Gou looked at her. But Kei was too embarassed to say it out loud, so she whispered in Gou's ear. Gou broke into a wide grin and giggled.

"Okay, sure, if that's what you want to sing, I guess that's it." She said and pushed a few buttons. After a few seconds the intro of Ever Blue was playing.

"A-anime...?" Rei was looking confused.

"It's definitely anime." Rin looked bewildered.

"It's that, you know!" Nagisa said "That anime the girls were fussing about a few years ago. What was it's nname again?"

"Mermaid Melody." Haru said and ha everybody's heads turning towards them.

"Haru, you know this anime?" Kei asked.

"Is it because it's about Mermaids?" Makoto asked.

"Well..." Haru blushed slightly.

"Shsh!" Ama-sensei made. "It's starting!"

So everyody fell silent to listen to a cheerful Gou and an embarassed Kei. It wasn't extremely beautiful, but somehow it still felt very calming and soothing to the ears. Haru closed his eyes while Rin couldn't avert his eyes from the singing Kei. Makoto, Nagisa and Rei were left smiling gently.

"What a nice song." Makoto said at the end. "Very gentle."

"Isn't it?" Kei asked "I like the feelings it conveys." She popped down beside Nagisa. "But now it's you guys' turn! Who wants first?" She wass looking around, but noone was too eager to start.

"You decide, Kei." Rin said since they couldn't come to an end there.

"Um... then... can I decide for the song, too?" She asked, looking at Rin wih big eyes.

"Uh... sure..." He couldn't possibly resist Kei like that. "So?"

"Well, you see, I always thought that you kinda sounded... like Mamoru-sama..." She said, still staring at Rin.

"Mamoru-sama?" Rin looked at here with a confused expression. "Who's that?"

"Miyano Mamoru-sama of course! There's this song..." Again she gave him the puppy-dog eyes.

"Uh... whatever you like." He stammered and blushed.

"Yay!" Kei entered the song cheerfully.

"Wh-what is that?" Rin asked when the first notes were played.

"'Guilty, beauty, love.'" Kei answered. "I think you'll sound amazing singing it..."

So Rin did. And indeed he sounded amazing, just too good to be true.

"Onii-chan!" Gou's eyes were teary at the end of the song. "I never thought you had that in you!"

"Tch! I-I just..." Rin blushed.

"Rin, that was incredible! You just sounded too much alike! How cool!" Kei exclaimed and made Rin forget all about the embarassment he'd felt by singing such a song. "I knew it!" Kei said, then, eyeing Nagisa "I guess then..." Her gaaze was full of excitement.

"Ano, Kei-chan, do you want to choose my song, too?" He asked, grinning.

"Oh, I can't..." She answered, but kept looking like she'd be pleading in a minute.

"Well, go ahead, I haven't chosen anything yet anyway." Nagias said.

"Yay! Nagisa, you're the best!" She gave him a little squeeze, then typed in the song. "Pieces of treasure. Oh it's a duet version... Jun, would you mind?" She looked at him with big eyes and of course he didn't. Soon they started singing. They didn't sound all bad and again Kei was overjoyed in her choice of song.

"I swear I can find a song for all of you!" She exclaimed grinning.

"D-Do you?" Makoto asked, a bit unsure of what to think of that.

"But, senpai, aren't they all anime songs?" Rei looked at her.

"W-well..." Kei blushed "I admit I'm a bit of an otaku." She cupped her face in her hands, embarassed. The others were left a bit bewildered. They sure hadn't expected that.

"So, who wants next?" She looked around.

To everybody's astonishment, Rei raised his hands.

"Well, might as well get it over with." He said in answer to their puzzled faces.

"Then, for Rei... Ah, I know! Rei has a very soothing voice, so, Hirakawa Daisuke, I think and the song should be... ha-ji-ma-ri no so-ra." She mumbled as she typed in the letters.

Unexpectedly, Rei gave his all in the song, which sounded like he was trying a bit hard, but it wasn't all too bad.

"Next one!" Gou exclaimed, grinning "This is so interesting!"

"Um, then, Makoto?" Kei looked at him.

"All right, all right, I'll do it." He said with a sigh. None of the guys could actually say no to Kei.

"Yay!" Kei took the song prospect "Oh yup, this one!" She put her finger on it.

" 'Yesterdays' by Tatsuhisa Suzuki?" Makoto read aloud "Oh, I actually know that song."

He started the song and was actually very good at it.

"Ah, Makoto has such an onii-san feel to him, don't you think?" Kei asked Gou with dreamy eyes. "So caring!"

Gou nodded. "More of an onii-sama than another one I know." She glanced towards fretting Rin, who, sitting next to Kei, was all nervous.

Kei chuckled.

"Now only Haru's left, no?" Makoto asked after finishing his song.

"Yup." Kei said "Will you sing, Haru?" She gave him her best puppy dog eyes, and he was starting to feel rather uneasy with her staring at him like that.

"...ok..." he answered.

"Thank you, Haru!" Kei said in English. "Then yours will be Nobunaga Shimazaki with Towa ni Chikau!"

"Wow, such a powerful song." Makoto smiled, a bit uneasy.

"You don't think it'll suit him?" Kei asked, insecure.

"No, no, that's not what I meant. Go ahead and play it." He gave her a reassuring smile.

And indeed, the song was perfect for Haru, though maybe a little too lively.

In the end, they spent some very fun hours in the Karaoke booth and returned to the house when dawn was breaking already.

* * *

Just a little explanation here: Look up the Seiyuus of Free! and you'll find out what I mean with the songs, they're all from them.


End file.
